OK, truth be told, I had my fill of this nonsense about June of LAST year, but I think you get to a point (at least I do anyway) where all the losses just keep on piling up, and it gets numbing…

But I am not sure losing in a spectacular fashion to the Skanks will EVER get numbing. And WTF happened the other night? I know Henry Owens did his job going 5+ innings and only giving up 3 runs on 5 hits with a walk and a strikeout. And his record would have been even been better if Robbie Ross hadn’t allowed BOTH runs he inherited to score. And then the bullpen crapped the bed giving up TEN runs, and EVERYONE except Jean Machi allowed the runners they were entrusted with to score.

@&^*T%!#&^&@!%@#!^&@*(!&#^!%$&^%#&^

And now there is talk about how the Sox need to get bullpen help. Folks, the BULLPEN is the least of the Sox’s worries. How about a stupendously crappy Starting 5? Or superstars who are doing NOTHING? Or a management team who has done little to help this team, except recite the “they’re going to turn it around–really” mantra OVER and OVER…

Ahem. OK.

Knuckleballer Stephen Wright pitched the game Of. His. Life, going 8 innings of 1-run ball, only giving up a solo shot to Carlos Beltran (at least it wasn’t Jake or Stephen Drew, because that’s usually how things work…)

The rest of his line: 4 hits, 2 walks, and 9 strikeouts. He threw 108 pitches, 72 for strikes. God, I love knuckleballers–until they give up 6 runs in a 1/3 of an inning…Fortunately, that did not happen today. And, as an added bonus, he not only didn’t further deplete a bullpen that was used heavily (and quite unsuccessfully) the night before, he remained the captain of his own destiny before handing it over to Koji for 1-hit, scoreless night.

Finally, an era has ended: Daniel Nava has left the building. It’s not surprising–as soon as they DFA’ed him on July 30th, we all knew the end was near. And yesterday it became official: He was signed by Tampa Bay. While he was STELLAR in the past, his number just have not been there this year. In 29 games, he only had 10 hits. Now that he’s with Tampa Bay, I fully expect him to hit 300 with 20 homers…He has been one of the favorites for years. His story was epic. Bought for a dollar by the Sox organization when he was in the independent Golden League, his first major league hit was a Grand Slam against Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton in 2010. And there was always such JOY to watch him play–you could see he knew how lucky he was…and that was wonderful to see. Godspeed Daniel–and I do hope you hit .300–just not against the Red Sox…

Coming up: The rubber match between the Sox and the Skanks. Eduardo Rodriguez gets the call for the Sox, hoping to add a second win against the Skanks to his resume (and his 7th win of the season). He is opposed by a very human CC Sabathia, who is 4-8 with a 5.54 ERA for 2015. He’s only seen the Sox once in 2015, at Fenway on May 1, where he was not part of the decision. Interesting match-up. 1st pitch: 7:05pm